HaGadol MiMinsk (“The Gadol of Minsk”), published recently by Feldheim is a biography of the Gaon R. Yeruchom Yehuda Leib Perelmann, who served as rabbi in Seltso, Pruzhany and Minsk.
It was written by R. Meir Heilperin,the author of the important handbook, Hanotarikon, HaSimanim, Vehakinuyim, which was first published in 1912 in Vilna.
R. Meir Heilperin was for many years an intimate and confidante of Rabbi Perelmann, having become acquainted with the Gadol when the latter — then serving as rabbi in Pruzhany –engaged him as a private tutor for his sons. When the Gadol was chosen as rabbi of Minsk, R. Meir moved with him to that city and opened a Hebrew bookstore there. A man of wide erudition, R. Meir wrote in addition to his HaNotarikon, HaSimanim Vehakinuyim and the biography of the Gadol, other books, but these were not published. He died in Minsk in 1923.
Rabbi Y.L . Perelmann was born in Brest-Litovsk (Brisk) in 1835 to very pious, honest and hard working parents. His father was a tailor. The mother supplemented his meager income by baking and selling bread. Though they were poor, they were very charitable sharing their meals with poor Torah students and strangers who passed through the city.
Young Yerucham Y.Leib excelled in the Cheder and before long became known as an”illui.” Rabbi Yaakov Meir Padua, the rabbi of the city took a special interest in him. Once when the child was very sick, the rabbi visited him in the company of a physician. “Take good care of this boy. Visit him from time to time,and I will pay you as much as you are paid by the rich,” the rabbi told the physician. “G-d forbid that I will take payment for treating a person to whom the rabbi is so greatly devoted. I give you my word that I will restore his health,” the physician exclaimed.
Yerucham Yehudah Leib married at the age of 13. For several years he studied Torah with great diligence with his father-in-law, Rabbi Yaakov, a great scholar and dayan of the community took care of the young couple’s needs. When his father-in-law died he left his wife and young child in the care of his parents and set out for Kovno hoping to continue his studies there.
Kovno’s rabbis and Torah scholars were greatly impressed by the young prodigy. Reb Yaakov Moshe Karpas, a prominent member of the community after hearing Rabbi Yitzchok Avigdor, the rabbi of the city speak in praise of the newcomer, took the latter into his home, provided him with a study and promised to supply him with all his needs.
At that time Rabbi Israel of Salant was opening his Mussar Shtiebel in Kovno. He and his disciples were very eager to attract young Yeroham Y. Leib. He visited the Stiebel and spoke with Rabbi Israel. He didn’t become an adherent of his ideas, but was greatly impressed by Rabbi Israel Salanter’s personality.
He remained for about two years in Kovno, leaving abruptly after being informed that his wife was sick. Before his departure, he went to see Rabbi Israel Salanter. They exchanged blessings and parted with a kiss.
On his way back to Brisk, he visited the prominent rabbis and Torah scholars of the towns through which he passed. They were all amazed at the young man’s knowledge. In Suwalk he met Rabbi Yosef Zecharya Stern, who was later to become rabbi of Shavli. Rabbi Yosef Zecharya who was wont to belittle all contemporary rabbis said of Yeroham Y. Leib: “He knows how to learn a blatt Gemora.”
Arriving in Brisk he found his wife gravely ill and living in great poverty. His young son, bereft of the care of a mother, was weak and ailing. His parents, who had to support other children as well, had great difficulty in making ends meet. They were too proud to ask people for help and suffered in silence. They never wrote their son about their situation, because they didn’t want to disturb him in his studies.
He devoted himself to the care of his wife and child. Visitors to the house would see him in front of a Sefer or discussing Torah with friends, while holding his child in his arms and from time to time, administering medicine to his wife.
Rabbi Yaakov Meir called a meeting of some leading members of the community. “The man who is destined to become the Gadol of this generation is living among us in want and destitution.” he told them. “If he will be forced to relinquish the tents of the Torah, it will be our fault.” They decided to render him help, without his becoming aware of the source of the support.
His wife died not long afterwards.
(To be continued)
The Jewish Press, Friday, July 3, 1992
Some time later, a prominent member of the Minsk community who was a great admirer of Rabbi Yeroham Y. Leib, suggested to him that he marry his daughter. He agreed on condition that the daughter bring up his young son which she promised to do.
The new father-in-law supported the couple for six years. After that period, the wealthy Finkelstein family asked Rabbbi Yeruham Y. Leib to transfer his place of study to their Beth HaMidrash, pledging themselves to provide him and his family with all their needs.
In 1863 Rabbi Yeroham Y. Leib was chosen rabbi of Seltso. As he had no experience in practical Halakha, he asked the oldest Moreh Hora’ah of Brisk to permit him to sit in when he was deciding She’elot submitted to him. He came daily to the house of the rabbi and listened attentively to the inquiries and decisions. Occasionally he would argue with the rabbi as soon as the inquirer had left. After several weeks, the rabbi told Rabbi Yeroham Y. Leib: “In my view you have learned all you could learn from me. You needn’t come anymore. It would be a waste of time.” Thereupon Rabbi Yeroham Y. Leib asked the rabbi whether he could post a Halakhic question to him which concerned him personally. He asked :”Now that you know me better do you think that I am competent and thus permitted, according to the Din, to accept the rabbinical position that I was offered?”
The rabbi of course confirmed that he was fully qualified for his post. But he also offered him some good advice which he thought would be useful to persons like him, brilliant Talmud scholars, who trusting their wide erudition, might think of themselves as infallible: “Don’t pass judgement in haste and don’t be rude to those who don’t share your views!”
After he came to Seltso he was indeed very careful and circumspect in his decisions. In cases relating to the Kashrut of meat he asked, in the beginning, the help of the old Shochet, who instructed him in great detail on the organs of the animals.
When Rabbi Eliyahu Chaim Maizel (who was later rabbi of Lodz) left the rabbinate of Purzhany for that of Lomza, the Jews of Pruzhany invited Rabbi Yeroham Y. Leib to take Rabbi Maizel’s place.
In the chapters of his book devoted to the Gadol’s acivities in Pruzhany, R. Meir Heilperin also describes the marriage of Rabbi Yerocham’s oldest daughter which took place during that period.
Rabbi Eliezer Rabinowitz, who was known as the Iluy of Kiev, was suggested to Rabbi Yersham Y. Leib as a suitable husband for his daugher. The young man was highly recommended. Rabbi Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik wrote to the Gadol: “I am ineligible to testify about him. He is my favorite student and I love him as myself. I cannot say that he will grow into a great man, because he is a great man already.”
At the request of the Gadol, Rabbi Eliezer Rabinowitz sent him a booklet of his Hiddushei Torah. Rabbi Yeroham was delighted. The two arranged to meet in a locality not far from Miinsk.,
Before the Gadol set out to meet his prospective son-in-law, he asked his daughter, who was then only 16 whether she agreed that he should choose her Hattan. The girl declared that she had full confidence in her father’s judgement.
The young man passed the oral examination with flying colors and the Tenaim were written on the spot, without the Hatan having seen the bride. He was so much impressed with the greatness in Torah, the personality, the honesty and candor of the Gadol that he implicitly believed all that his future father-in-law told him about his daughter.
In 1882 after having served for 13 years in Pruzhany, Rabbi Yeroham Yehuda Leib received a call from the community of Minsk. For many years this community did not have a rabbi with full authority over all the members. The city was divided into three sections, each of which had its own rabbinic leadership. The arrival of Rabbi Yeroham Yehuda Leib in Minsk, which signaled the restoration of the community’s rabbinate to its former glory was a great event. For days the rabbi’s residence buzzed with visitors, people from all walks of life comigngo see and greet the rabbi. One of the outstanding men of the community, deeply impressed with the new Rabbi’s divrei Torah, exclaimed on leaving the house to those who were with him: “This is an Adam Gadol (a great man) The appellions was readily accepted by all. The rabbi became soon known as the Gadol.
To be continued
The Jewish Press, Friday, July 10, 1992
Continued from last week
Now that the Jewish community of Minsk had again a central Halakhic authority, new arrangements, especially in the field of Kashrut such as the laying down of guidelines for the slaughter houses, the appointment of additional slaughterers, etc. became necessary. Rabbi Yeroham Yehuda Leib, who in his former positions had not been very active in communal life, was not too happy with the new duties and tasks which confronted him in Minsk. He was often heard complaining about the Bittul Torah, which the rabbinate caused him.
After all the necessary changes had been introduced, the rabbi could again devote himself wholly to the study of the Torah.
He was revered and admired. Women came to him to ask help for their ailing husbands and children. He promised to pray for them.
However the rabbis had also his opponents. First and foremost there were those, who as a result of the changes in the Kashrut services, had lost some of their influence. They didn’t forget nor forgive. There were those who had lost a Din Torah or were refused Semikha or Kabbala (for slaughtering) There were those who believed that the rabbi had done them some injustice or had not talked to them with due respect. There were also those who claimed that the rabbi was too strict in his Halakhic decision or was too wrapped up in his Sefarim to understand the needs of the community. Some of the opponents even spread false rumors about him. The grumblings and complaints eventually turned the leaders of the community against the rabbi. They decided to cut the Gadol’s annual salary by 500 rubles.
If the rabbi’s opponents had thought that the cut in the salary would somehow loosen the rabbi’s hold on the rabbinate, – they were gravely mistaken. The rabbi continued as heretofore. “The leaders of the community are in charge only of material matters, ” he said. “My domain is the spiritual leadership. Even if they will deprive me of my entire salary, they cannot rob me of my position. They have chosen me in behalf of the entire membership.” He continued to lead the community according to the Torah, without changing his ways in the least.
There were individual members of the community, who wanted to make up the rabbi’s salary from their own pockets, but he refused their offer. He told them: “I must have committed a sin and for this reason was punished with a cut in my salary. Why should you suffer because of my sins?”
As time passed, the leaders of the community began to realize that they had made a mistake. The broad masses of the people continued to admire and revere the Gadol and to despise his opponents. When some misfortune occurred in the families of the opponents, the women would blame it on their husbands’ opposition to the rabbi. Some of the rabbi’s opponents visited him and asked for forgiveness. The leaders of the community voted to restore the rabbi’s salary and paid back the money they had withheld in the past.
R. Meir Heiperin tells in his book about a bitter experience of the Gadol, during the last years of his life. Acting as administrator for the estate of a young orphan, the Gadol sold a house belonging to the orphan to a non-Jew. When the Jewish tenant of the house refused to move, the non-Jew took the rabbi to court, which decided in the favor of the complainant. The Gadol’s library was sealed by court officials. The rabbi pursued his studies in another room of his house with only a few books at his disposal. After several months the dispute was settled. The rabbi’s books were unsealed and he could move back to his library.
Rabbi Yeruham Yehuda Leib died in 1896 at the age of 61 after having served the Minsk community for 13 years. Leading rabbis came from afar to eulogize him at the funeral, the like of which the town had never seen.
The community honored his memory by choosing Rabbi Eliezer Rabinowitz, the Gadol’s son-in-law, who was then rabbi of Smolevich, as his successor.
The Gadol’s novella on the Mishna were printed in the Vilna edition of the Minshnayot. Or Gadol (Vilna 1924, reprinted Jerusalem 1961) contains responsa and other writings of the Godol.
To be continued
The Jewish Press, Friday, July 17, 1992
R. Meir Heilperin presents us not only with the life story of the Gadol of Minsk, but also acquaints us with his habits, his traits of character and his views on a variety of subjects.
On one occasion, when the Gadol and R. Heilperin were talking about man’s duty to review his deeds, the latter mentioned that Rabbi Shlomo Luria is said to have had a private Mokhiah (reprover) who pointed out to him whatever he might have done wrong. The Gadol then suggested to R. Meir that he become his personal Mokhiach, observe his comportment, screen his deeds and rebuke him in case he did anything improper. R. Meir Heilperin, at first, refused this “assignment’ but finally gave in to the pleadings of the Gadol.
Writes R. M. Heilperin: “At the request of the rabbi, I came to him late at night and discussed with him some specific actions of his as well as various aspects of his general comportment. I criticized him and he tried to explain his behavior. Many times I agreed with his explanations. At times he admitted that I was right.”
These nightly sessions continued for several weeks. R. Heilperin included a few chapters in his books, describing some of these discussions. They familiarize the reader with problems of rabbinic leadership and permit one a glimpse into the soul and mind of the Gadol.
In one of the chapters of his book, R. Meir tells of a visit made by Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer of Berlin to Minsk. He was invited to the Gadol’s home for Shalosh Se’udot. The meal, the ma’ariv prayer and the preparations for Havdala took a long time. When Havdala was finally recited, it was long after Shabbath had ended.
Rabbi Hildesheimer, who had still to make several visits that evening remarked impatiently: “Where do these people get so much time?” When the Gadol heard this, he exclaimed: “Et La’asot LaShem Heferu Toratekha (Psalms119:126). One must make time (Et La’asot) in honor of the L-rd (LaShem), for if this is not done- the people might be prone to break the law (Heferu Toratekha). There must always be some persons who devote their time to the very strict observance of each Minhag, because if there were no such persons, the common people will break the law proper.
Following is another bon mot of the Gadol. It is not in the book, but was widely known in Eastern Europe. Once when he was attending a marriage ceremony, the Gadol saw the bridegroom kissing the bride. under the Huppa. He was taken aback and prepared to leave. The parents of the couple sought to calm him. “Rebbe, no sin was committed. He is her husband and she is ‘kosher.’ they told the Gadol.
“Yes,” the Gadol responded. “Everything is fine and good, but Le’Eney Kol Yisrael (“before the eyes of all Israel” in pubic! This is the Sof (end) of the Torah!” (The pun: Le’eney Kol Yisrael are the last words in the Torah).
The volume, as already mentioned, was published by Feldheim. It carries a preface by Shlomo Slonim, a great grandson of the Gadol, who tells of an attempt to publish the book 50 years ago, and about the subsequent disappearance of the manuscript and its eventual rediscovery. Rabbi Chaim Gedalya Zimbalist, a well known rabbinic scholar and member of the Tel Aviv rabbinate, who prepared the manuscript for publication describes in his introduction the personality of the author. The volume is richly illustrated with photos of prominent rabbis, mentioned in the book, and members of the Gadol’s family.
The Jewish Press, July 24,1992 p.25